The view of the ceasefire vote from a Birmingham mosque
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It’s a rainy day in Birmingham and, perhaps unsurprisingly, the vote tonight in the House of Commons over support for a ceasefire in Gaza is not the first thing on people’s minds.
But make no mistake, this is a huge issue here for voters of all stripes – and particularly important to the Muslim community.
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Ever since the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October last year, interested parties have been watching not only the UK government’s response to Israel and Gaza, but the opposition’s stance too.
This is partly because the Muslim community is one of Labour’s most loyal voter bases, which has almost exclusively stuck with the party in recent elections.
But potentially, no more.
I’m invited into the Green Lane mosque where there are several events going on in the expansive and beautifully preserved Victorian building.
There’s a cancer support awareness event in the basement, and in one wing of the building, a coffee morning for women to gather and chat.
Mustafa Hussain, the imam here, says the issue has been coming up repeatedly at the mosque. They’ve even had fundraising events and collections for donations towards aid going to Gaza.
But he says there’s only so much he can do, and he believes it is leaders who have the biggest responsibility.
“What we’re doing is to make our voices loud enough so they can make the right decisions,” he told me.
“You saw how the streets were filled all over Europe, in London, you would think that with that amount of noise being made on a local level, or a community level, the decision to help save lives would have been made earlier?”
But while Imam Mustafa says he believes this should have come earlier, he will take Labour at its word.
“When I hear Labour is going to be calling for a humanitarian ceasefire, I mean, great,” he said. “But I hope this is not just optics and will lead to actual change.”
Labour has been reportedly worried about losing voters in their stronghold with a high Muslim population for some time.
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A recent survey by Survation added to that fear when it indicated only 60% of British Muslims who voted Labour in the last election would back the party again.
The politically active organisations in Birmingham say that figure could even be an underestimate.
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Azhar Qayum, chief executive of the Muslim Engagement and Development organisation, worries about the wording of the Labour amendment.
He said the addition of the word “humanitarian” in “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” allows for “further quibbles” and even some “wiggle room”.
Mr Qayum added: “What does it even mean? It’s too much politicising this, it should be simple. The fighting needs to stop.”
So it seems this could be about a lack of trust for him and the delay from Labour to come to this position means he’s unable to take Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer at his word.
He will be watching closely at which Labour MPs vote for what he says is a “simpler” SNP amendment, calling for an immediate ceasefire, and he says this will “undoubtedly” have an impact on the Labour vote from British Muslims.
‘Do the right thing’
Back in the mosque, a community organiser named Sidrah tells me why she welcomes Labour’s position today.
Calling for a ceasefire was important because of what she hopes for next: more aid into Gaza, more medics allowed inside and more equipment for hospitals.
“It has been a lot for the community to deal with,” she said.
It’s clear Labour has work to do to retain support among Muslim voters, but today at the Green Lane mosque, Imam Mustafa accepts this is a start.
“Lest we start assuming that decisions are being made for voters,” he said. “I’d like to believe decisions are being made to save lives.
“At the end of the day I don’t want you to win my vote, I want you to do the right thing and I think that’s the message from our community. Do the right thing.”
